Many filmmakers will know the doggedness required to find funding for a debut work.
MBC Shahid Originals’ new Arabic-language series Brando El Sharq opens with its protagonist in the thick of this beaten trail. Smiling ear to ear, Youssef tries to maintain a fervent demeanour as he goes from one producer’s office to another, pitching his film The Silent Bullet.
Youssef’s film and its genre is mercurial and delightfully prone to outside influence.
At its heart, The Silent Bullet is set in 1930s Lebanon and tells the story of a suicidal man who purchases a pistol in instalments, deciding not to kill himself until after he has paid off his debt. In the meantime, the man falls in love with the woman at the store where he found his gun.
However, the romance in Youssef's film, which starts with glum beginnings, changes its form in each producer's office. As Youssef eagerly tries to sell them the story, he gives in to the producers’ suggestions and his film shapeshifts into hilarious parodies of various Arab film and television trends, while hopscotching between genres from action to drama and slapstick comedy. The audience is taken along these giddy and exaggerated transformations that often pay homage to classic films from Taxi Driver to Casablanca.
Georges Khabbaz, who wrote the series and also stars in it, says Brando El Sharq was born, in part, from his desire to encompass his favourite genres of classic cinema into one project, while also telling a very particular story in a novel way.
“The film in Youssef’s head is set in the 1930s, so immediately you go to Charlie Chaplin when he’s asked to do comedy,” Khabbaz says. “Or, when he’s asked for a drama, his film becomes similar to Casablanca; when he’s asked for an action film we go to action tropes. These tropes are patterns we can all recognise, and I put them in a certain way.”
With each iteration of Youssef’s film, we also get a glimpse of his actual life and the tragedies that have darkened it. The people around him are featured as his film’s characters in fictionalised re-enactments that reflect on the developments of his own life, all while ensuring its comedic flair.
“Youssef, in a way, is Chaplin’s The Tramp of 2023,” Khabbaz says. “Life has wiped him. He has a dramatic story beyond the comedy, as becomes clear later on in the series. He is asked to be somebody he isn’t, and for this, he is all the more eager to fulfil his dream. He needs to prove himself.
“The first thing I established while writing was Youssef’s relationship with his father and his brother who died before he was born. This is a man who was forced to lie all his life; he has had to lie to his parents to convince them he is his brother, with whom he shares a name. The lie has grown with him. It is in his construction. You see in the series how he is made to lie, but in his essence, he is a good person who doesn’t want to lie but was born into a lie.”
Brando El Sharq features a stellar core cast. Releasing two episodes weekly on MBC Shahid, the series stars Amal Arafa, Jihad Saad, Camille Salameh, Zeina Makki and Talal Jurdi. Several surprise cameos include appearances by Elie Mitri and Fouad Yammine. It comprises 10 episodes, with four already released and the rest coming out weekly. The series is produced by Sadek Sabbah from Cedar Arts Productions.
Director Amin Dora says he was intent on establishing a visual and rhythmic distinction between Youssef’s film pitches and his real-life moments.
“I divided it into three layers,” he says. “First, there is Youssef as a real character. Whenever he’s around his father or sister, you can feel there’s something going on. When he’s with the producers, the camera work approach was more dynamic and quicker, because he is someone else. And then with Amal’s character, it’s the only place where he feels loved because he knows she loves him. You can feel like it's choreographed, like a dance.
“The series starts as a comedy but then suddenly you realise this character has a deeper place,” Dora says. “And up until episode 10, you’ll keep discovering who Youssef is.”
Brando El Sharq, or Brando of the East, an epithet for the character Khaled Salah in the series, is everything that Youssef is not but yearns to be, as is made evident by how he passes the thespian’s quotes and mannerisms as his own.
“The character of Brando is more of an idea of stardom,” Dora says. He explains that the film depicts a journey to finding Brando, while meeting other characters. “We then thought it would also be fun to bring on guest stars to play those characters. The scene in episode four, for instance, between Georges [Khabbaz] and Adel [Karam] is one of the most hilarious scenes ever.”
Dora says he is overjoyed at the feedback the series has received so far and is looking forward to seeing how audiences will react to the new directions it will take in the next six episodes.
“I’m waiting for all 10 episodes to release,” he says. “Because it really goes in different directions.”
As for a second season, Khabbaz says while he had intended Brando El Sharq to be a self-contained story, he isn’t ruling out the possibility of expanding on an aspect of the series in the future.
“I could go back and see that another story could grow out of one part of what we’ve seen."
Francesco Totti's bio
Born September 27, 1976
Position Attacking midifelder
Clubs played for (1) - Roma
Total seasons 24
First season 1992/93
Last season 2016/17
Appearances 786
Goals 307
Titles (5) - Serie A 1; Italian Cup 2; Italian Supercup 2
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
When Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi
Known as The Lady of Arabic Song, Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi on November 28, 1971, as part of celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. A concert hall was constructed for the event on land that is now Al Nahyan Stadium, behind Al Wahda Mall. The audience were treated to many of Kulthum's most well-known songs as part of the sold-out show, including Aghadan Alqak and Enta Omri.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The rules of the road keeping cyclists safe
Cyclists must wear a helmet, arm and knee pads
Have a white front-light and a back red-light on their bike
They must place a number plate with reflective light to the back of the bike to alert road-users
Avoid carrying weights that could cause the bike to lose balance
They must cycle on designated lanes and areas and ride safe on pavements to avoid bumping into pedestrians
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 380hp at 5,800rpm
Torque: 530Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Price: From Dh299,000 ($81,415)
On sale: Now
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THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
